Automation systems for controlling a technical process or a technical installation usually comprise a control device (PLC), which are integrated in a complex comprising a multiplicity of intelligent electrical devices. Intelligent electronic devices are microprocessor-based devices such as protective and control devices, motor protection devices, intelligent switches and voltage regulators, frequency converters, pressure and temperature measurement transducers, flowmeters, and servodrives.
The Article “FDI Device Integration—Best of Both Worlds”, atp edition 6/2010, pages 16 to 19, discloses the practice of integrating field devices with the FDI concept (Field Device Integration IEC-62769) into an automation installation. The basis for this concept is the provision of information for configuring field devices in a device-specific FDI package. This FDI package comprises a firmly prescribed quantity of information that consists of a device definition, business logic, user interface description, and user interface plugins. The device definition comprises management information and the device model. The business logic describes the communication logic for the device and is used for ensuring consistency for the device model. The user interface description describes the presentation of the device parameters and device functions. The user interface plugins are programmed components of interface portions for presenting the device parameters and functions.
When field devices are configured by means of EDD (electronic device description) technology IEC 61804, a device manufacturer provides an EDD that contains information about the communication with the device, the business logic and the user interfaces, that is to say what input masks should be presented to a user. By way of example, the business logic includes when what parameters can be written.
FDI technology uses these mechanisms of the EDD and provides the concept of the FDI package, in which, besides an EDD, other information such as a user handbook can be included, but also what are known as UIPs (user interface plugins), which provide further user interfaces in other technologies, such as .NET Assemblies, which, in contrast to EDD-based user interfaces, consists of programmed code compiled to form a component.
FDI packages are typically produced by device manufacturers and used by system manufacturers in order to integrate and configure the devices of the device manufacturers in their system.
In such a programming tool, information relating to the devices is visualized and functions such as parameterization operations are performed. To this end, the user first needs to select a device from a multiplicity of devices.
DE 102 45 890 B4 discloses a screen element, HMI device, automation system and computer program product for visualization and project planning for simply and repeatedly used user texts and the points of use that are assigned in a data processing system. The disclosure reveals that the devices are provided for selection in a hierarchic tree structure, with each branch that ramifies further having an associated user text and each branch that does not ramify further having an associated combination of a user text and a point of use. Details for a device are stored in nested menu levels. This turns operator control and particularly searching for details for a device into a time consuming process.
Typical industrial installations have a multiplicity of field devices of the same field device type. Frequently, the configurations of the field devices of the same field device type differ only in a few parameters. The number and type of parameters to be changed are often the same and usually relate to the two parameters “field device name” and “field device description”.
The individual configuration of the multiplicity of field devices is very complex and, owing to the multiplicity of parameters that are accommodated, highly error prone.